The Police Marksman Returns!

Written by Ed Sanow

For thousands of police officers, spanning more than a full police career, The Police Marksman was a solid, credible source of information for patrol officers and firearms instructors. The Police Marksman was printed between 1976 and 2007. At a time before most SWAT magazines and tactical organizations, The Police Marksman was also a valuable source for intel on advanced tactics and reviews on specialty weapons. In late-January 2013, The Police Marksman will be back as a bi-monthly, online magazine under the Hendon Media Group umbrella.

Like Tactical Response magazine, The Police Marksman magazine is written and edited by police officers to serve fellow officers in the police community. The Police Marksman's goal is to make that part of the job both safer and easier by providing you with up-to-date topics you can really use. In turn, you can bring the information directly to your roll calls and inject it into your range training to benefit every member of your agency.

The editorial director for The Police Marksman is Steve Tracy, one of the technical editors for (and frequent contributor to) Tactical Response magazine. He is a 25-year veteran street cop, and the State of Illinois 2012 Officer of the Year. For 23 years of those years, Tracy has been a police firearms instructor. As a current competitive handgun competitor, Tracy himself is a true "police marksman."

Tracy remembers reading The Police Marksman at his local police department's basement range back when he was first learning to shoot with his father, who had several friends in law enforcement. Tracy was influenced to choose law enforcement as his career because of the many positive encounters with those officers at the range and by the way The Police Marksman reflected the job of policing.

In addition to insight from Tracy, you will see articles in every issue from the one person most identified with The Police Marksman, Brian McKenna. For more than 20 years, the signature asset of The Police Marksman was McKenna's "Officer Down" column, which recounted police involved shootings in forensic detail.

The Police Marksman once again brings you McKenna's well respected analysis of officer involved shootings. His breakdown of actual incidents, including first-hand interviews with the officers involved, is renowned throughout the police community. McKenna's accounts of real-world incidents will keep officer safety foremost in your mind well after you have finished his latest column.

The premier issue will have McKenna's choice as the best of the best of his Officer Down shooting debriefs from the past. In "Close Range Armed Encounters" McKenna describes a jewelry store incident, with his famous after-action analysis. The ultimate in "lessons learned," McKenna's Officer Down column will go on to cover recent officer involved shootings, all the while aware that the basics of officer survival are timeless. The Police Marksman is thrilled to return with McKenna's "Officer Down" and accounts of police tactics, a winning mindset, and true heroism.

The Police Marksman will start off with a review of duty guns, aftermarket sights, and range qualification courses. Expect articles on backup guns and every kind of firearms accessory including optics. Ammo for duty and off-duty is on the docket, as are all of the long guns: patrol rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles. Range training is a core part of The Police Marksman, and so are police pistol leagues.

Those of you who read The Police Marksman in the past will recognize some other familiar bylines in the future. Several previous writers will provide their expertise to future issues, as will new contributors. To quote the Blues Brothers, "We're getting the band back together." The online, bi-monthly The Police Marksman is free of charge. Sign up now at www.policemarksman.com.